CSS
Ellis was purchased at Norfolk, Va., in 1861. by the State
of North Carolina and turned over to the
Confederacy when that State became a member. With Comdr. W.
T. Muse, CSN, in command she played an important
part in the defense of Forts Hatteras and Clark in
Hatteras Inlet, N.C., 28-29 August 1861, of Roanoke
Island, 7-8 February 1862 and of Elizabeth City,
N.C., on 10 February 1862; that day she was captured
by the Union Army after a desperate struggle in
which her commander, Lt. J.
M. Cook, CSN, was badly wounded.

Ellis was
taken into the Navy and assigned to the North Atlantic Blockading
Squadron. She served well
until 25 November 1862 when she grounded above the mouth of New River, N.C.
She was set afire to prevent recapture and demolished by the
explosion of her own magazine. Lt. William B.
Cushing, USN, was her last commander.

Career

Launched:

?

Commissioned:

1861

Decommissioned:

1862

Fate:

Captured by U.S. Navy February 25, 1862;
destroyed to prevent recapture November 15, 1862